Ann Rehabil Med.  2016 Jun;40(3):401-411. 10.5535/arm.2016.40.3.401.

Effects of Adjuvant Mental Practice on Affected Upper Limb Function Following a Stroke: Results of Three-Dimensional Motion Analysis, Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the Upper Extremity and Motor Activity Logs

• Oh HS
• Kim EJ
• Kim DY
• Kim SJ

• KMID: 2327601
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5535/arm.2016.40.3.401

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of adjuvant mental practice (MP) on affected upper limb function following a stroke using three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis.
METHODS
In this AB/BA crossover study, we studied 10 hemiplegic patients who had a stroke within the past 6 months. The patients were randomly allocated to two groups: one group received MP combined with conventional rehabilitation therapy for the first 3 weeks followed by conventional rehabilitation therapy alone for the final 3 weeks; the other group received the same therapy but in reverse order. The MP tasks included drinking from a cup and opening a door. MP was individually administered for 20 minutes, 3 days a week for 3 weeks. To assess the tasks, we used 3D motion analysis and three additional tests: the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the upper extremity (FMA-UE) and the motor activity logs for amount of use (MAL-AOU) and quality of movement (MAL-QOM). Assessments were performed immediately before treatment (T0), 3 weeks into treatment (T1), and 6 weeks into treatment (T2).
RESULTS
Based on the results of the 3D motion analysis and the FMA-UE index (p=0.106), the MAL-AOU scale (p=0.092), and MAL-QOM scale (p=0.273), adjuvant MP did not result in significant improvements.
CONCLUSION
Adjuvant MP had no significant effect on upper limb function following a stroke, according to 3D motion analysis and three clinical assessment tools (the FMA-UE index and the two MAL scales). The importance of this study is its use of objective 3D motion analysis to evaluate the effects of MP. Further studies will be needed to validate these findings.

Keyword

Upper extremity; Stroke

MeSH Terms

Cross-Over Studies
Drinking
Humans
Motor Activity*
Rehabilitation
Stroke*
Upper Extremity*

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Crossover study design, including three phases: T0 was the first assessment, performed at the start; T1 was the second assessment, performed at phase-change; and T2 was the third assessment, performed at the end.

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  Fig. 2 Images of the three-dimensional motion analysis using the Vicon MX-T20 system for opening a door and drinking from a cup. (A) Opening a door and (B) drinking from a cup.

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  Fig. 3 Comparison of three-dimensional motion analysis data between the M+C phase and the C phase. (A) Comparison of movement time and (B) comparison of peak velocity. M+C phase, mental practice and conventional therapy phase; C phase, conventional therapy phase only.

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